Seven baseball seniors finish STC careers

July 26, 2013

Friday's baseball district game was the final sports contest for seven South Tama County seniors.

Many of them were involved in many activities and several sports during their time at STC. More than half of them were also part of the baseball program all four years.

STC head baseball coach Seth Koch had kind words to say about each senior following the loss Friday evening.

"It's always tough," Koch said. "I hate saying goodbye. This is my worst night of the season every year the last loss. Those seven kids have been a huge part of our program here and a lot of those guys have been four-year starters for us. They're a great group of kids and I can't say enough nice things about them."

Kyle Stephenson

"Kyle Stephenson has been with us just one year," Koch said. "We wish we would have had him for all four."

Tank Keckler

"Tank Keckler just joined us two years ago, but he's been a big part of things here," Koch said. "He really blossomed this year on the mound. He really evolved into that DH role, too."

Landon Mathes

"You can't say enough great things about Landon Mathes," Koch said. "Landon has been that hard-working kid who's always here, always early and always stays late. He works his tail off. He doesn't have a whole lot of athletic ability, but loves the game and loves being around the game."

Clay Waterbury

"Clay Waterbury has been solid for us on the mound the last three years," Koch said. "He is one of the best defensive players we've ever had. Offensively, he's struggled a little bit, but he's accepted that and realized he has a role to play. He's play first base and also in the outfield a bit. He's a super kid that did a super job for us all season."

Kaleb Davenport

"Kaleb was a surprise this year," Koch said. "Kaleb hadn't really been an offensive threat, but he hit around .360 this year and drove in 20-some runs. Kaleb emerged as a great defensive center fielder for us. We thought he was going to play left field for us this year, but Sam got sick and we found a center fielder the first week of the season."

Sam Kuhter

"Sam has been very effective on the mound for us," Koch said. "We've talked about how much he's meant to us on the mound. He's going on to bigger and better things at UNI."

Noah Bearden

"Then you have our leader, our emotional leader behind the plate," Koch said. "Noah was a first-team all-conference player last year and a second-team all-district catcher last year. He's as good of a defensive catcher that we've had here. Offensively, he really struggled this year, but he played through it. He still showed up really positive."